Daddy Thrax
by MidnightMare247
Summary: When Thrax survives the alcohol he nearly fell into, he is determined to seek revenge on Ozzy by killing him once and for all. But when Thrax saves a little girl from a house fire, he slowly grows attached to her and finds it harder to get rid of her. Does Thrax have what it takes to secretly raise a child himself, even if it involves dark secrets and interfering with his revenge?
1. Are You My Daddy?

Hello! This is MidnightMare247! The summary pretty much tells you what this story is about, and I usually don't add OCs with big roles to my fanfics, because I don't want them to become Mary-Sue or I don't want the fanfic to lose attention, but I had to use an OC for the little girl. I was thinking about making it so that Ozzy turned into a baby, but it would seem more interesting if the baby was a girl…not being sexist or anything. I couldn't do Leah, because her and Thrax don't go together, not even in a father daughter way. And Drix…um…no. So I hope you enjoy!

 **Warning: Contains Violence, Gore, Profanity, Weapons & The Use of Alcohol. Rated M for Mature Content.**

* * *

"Damn that cop!" Thrax said. "I could've broken my record! I could'a had ma' own chapter in the medical books! But that damn cell had to go and ruin everything!"

Thrax ranted on as he hid in Frank's ear and carefully wrapped a roll of ace wrapping around his burnt arm. After Thrax had fell in the acid, he managed to balance on the fake eyelashes that Ozzy called a 'falsie' as he tried to pull his stuck claw out for dear life. When he managed to yank his claw out, in the process, one of the bones popped out of it's socket, making him gasp and lose balance so that his other arm accidentally dipped in the acid. Crying out in pain, he quickly snatched his other arm away and flew out the container, trying to ignore his dislocated hand and burnt arm.

He managed to hide in Frank's ear as he still remained laying on the hospital bed, alive to Thrax's disappointment. Once in the ear, that's when he painfully popped his dislocated hand back in place and began ace wrapping his stinging arm which had a weird, thick green fluid oozing out from him followed by a black fluid. Normally his blood was black, but when he made contact with acid, the place where it was burnt would turn into a thick green substance which was painful. He had gotten so lucky to make it out alive. But what was the virus to do now? Should he try again? He already failed on breaking his record, so trying to kill Frank again would just be a waste of time.

His mind trailed back to Osmosis, the man who made him fail his mission and made all of this a waste of time.

"You're gonna regret the day you saw me, Jones…" He spoke aloud, with a deep frown on his face.

And with that, the virus glided down and lucky made it through Frank's mouth. He wasn't gonna leave without having revenge on that damned Immune cell.

* * *

Thrax wasn't entirely sure where to go at first. He wanted to go to Downtown Frank where he knew his mortal enemy was, but the city was heavily populated and the last thing he needed was for someone to spot him again and risk the chance of prison, or worse, execution. However, that was a chance he was just going to have to take. Besides, he didn't have much to lose. Even if he were to fail his mission of killing Osmosis, it wouldn't matter. His goals had been left uncompleted and he just didn't feel right starting all over.

With that said and done, he wore his sunglasses and blended in with the environment, hiding in dark spots and what not, until soon he was making his way into Downtown Frank. It was actually a lot more easier to get around Downtown Frank than he expected. Everyone thought Thrax was dead, and with Ozzy around now, everyone felt carefree and without worry. This only pissed Thrax off more, but he kept his distance and tamed himself from the citizens.

Luckily, he found an abandoned apartment nearby and made his way in. It was dusty, full of empty cardboard boxes and old mattresses, but it was enough for him. He sat down in a chair, releasing a tired sigh.

"My work begins tomorrow…" He told himself.

He knew he needed some time to heal. So he laid down on the mattress. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it would have to do for now. Minding his arm, he laid on his back and closed his eyes with his hands behind his head, buried within his magenta dreads. He tried not to think as he slowly drifted off to sleep, and succeeded by humming a soft jazz song to himself. Just as he was near to falling asleep, he began to smell something. He sniffed a bit, his eyes still closed, then realized it was smoke. Very strong smoke. He knew that smell. It was fire.

He opened his eyes immediately and sat up, looking around. It wasn't coming from the apartment. He opened a window and stuck his head out, looking around. He knew it was coming from somewhere in the city. He didn't know why, but this suddenly interested him. So he threw on his shades and jumped out the window, quickly following the direction of the fire. It wasn't too close, neither was it too far. Once he got to the destination, he soon realized it was a cabin on fire. Oddly enough, this cabin seemed to be far from the city, standing alone in an abanonded area. Nobody was in sight; no cells, no viruses, not even germs. Strange.

None the less, Thrax was about to turn around and walk off until he heard what sounded like a cry. Not just any cry, though, a sob. A soft but loud, high-pitched sob. He shot his body around instinctively and rushed into the burning cabin. The fire wasn't the slightest bit of a problem for Thrax, simply because the virus was practically the master of heat and fire. He looked around, searching for the source of the cry as the fire only grew worse, engulfing almost everything in sight. That's when he saw her.

He looked over through the open door of a little girl's bedroom, and saw a small little girl against the wall, hugging her knees and sobbing in fear and sorrow. She looked no older than four years old. She had her eyes squeezed shut, calling out for her mommy and daddy as she sat helpless and in danger. Now Thrax was a villainous virus, and usually didn't care much for anyone else but himself, but even he had his limits. Leaving a little girl to possibly burn to death in a house fire was not something even Thrax would allow to happen if he had the chance to save her. Sure he almost killed everyone living in Frank's body but that's besides the point.

Quickly but carefully, he walked inside the bedroom and slowly made his way towards the girl.

"Hey, kid." He called out.

The little girl opened her eyes and looked up at Thrax. She had these bright milky chocolate brown eyes that stared back at Thrax as tears flowed out.

"A-Are you my daddy?" She asked in her high-pitched voice.

"No, baby, I'm not your daddy. But I'm here to help you." Thrax responded.

He wasn't exactly a professional when it came to children, but knew the best way to save this child is if she was comfortable and trusted him. He outstretched his long arms to her, inching closer and closer to her.

"Come to me, baby, we have to get you outta' here."

"B-But mommy and daddy are still here. I can't-"

Suddenly, the burning dresser collapsed down in front of the bedroom door, blocking it. The little girl gasped. Thrax knew it was only a matter of time before the whole cabin collapsed. Where were those damn Immune cops when you needed them? And why wasn't anyone else noticing this? Sure he could sense fire much stronger than any cell, but surely somebody had to notice the smokey scent by now. He turned his attention back to the girl and crouched down in front of her, staring down at her with his serious, golden irises.

"We can't stay here. You have to leave mommy and daddy behind." Thrax said.

He could see the sorrow and worry in her eyes, but thankfully she nodded and decided to cooperate, standing up and raising her small arms up to him. Thrax carefully picked her up into his arms and looked back at the entrance door. He could easily climb over the fallen dresser barricading the door, walk through the fire the dresser was engulfed in and pass through the doorway without a scratch. But he had a little girl in his arms who could definitely be harmed by the fire. The roof began to slowly collapse, pieces of the ceiling falling apart.

"Hold on, baby." Thrax said.

Thrax still had his black trench coat on, so he wrapped the coat around the little girl's body as she clutched onto his gray turtle neck shirt and held her firmly. Quickly, he jumped over the dresser and past the fire quickly, making it out of the bedroom. He saw a quick glimpse of a woman who he assumed to be the mother in the bedroom, laying on the floor, burnt and lifeless with her eyes left wide open looking towards Thrax's direction. Thrax didn't dare let the little girl see the haunting sight of her dead mother and quickly made it out the cabin, right before it collapsed.

He kept the small creature in his coat with his arms wrapped around her until he was a safe enough distance from the cabin. He stood behind a tree and unwrapped his coat from the girl. She had a tight grip on his shirt with her face pressed against his chest and her eyes closed shut.

"It's okay, baby. It's all over now." He said.

She opened her eyes and looked up at Thrax, then looked over his shoulder at the burning cabin that used to be her home.

"Mommy…" She called out.

He sighed softly. He couldn't help but feel a little pity for the child. She probably never saw it coming. That thought led the virus to think, what exactly did happen? How did the fire start? He looked around. There were no cops, cells or germs around. He thought about turning her into the police station and letting them handle her. But if the cops caught him, they'd try to arrest him or kill him. That wasn't a risk he was willing to take. Maybe he could leave her at someone's doorstep? No, he didn't want to just give her off to some stranger. Would've something were to happen? Wait, why did he care? It wasn't his problem, was it?

He sighed and decided to take her with him, at least until he figured out what to do with her. He closed his eyes for a bit then reopened them and looked down at the girl in his arms.

"What's your name, baby?" He asked.

"Annabelle..." She answered softly.

"Well listen, Annabelle. You're gonna be staying with Big Daddy Thrax until I find out what to do with you." He said.

She nodded, not seeming to have a problem with it, which was odd for the virus, because usually no one wanted to be near him. But this little girl seemed to hold no fear nor nervousness around him. He didn't question it, though, and headed back to apartment with the little girl firmly in his arms.


	2. First Day with Anna

Thrax made it back to the apartment as quickly as he made it to the cabin. When he got there, he set the girl down onto the floor, giving her a chance to examine her surroundings. He couldn't help but feel slightly nervous having this little girl here, knowing she could possibly interfere with his plans of destroying Ozzy. He couldn't just leave her alone in the apartment if he were to hunt down Ozzy, but if he were to bring her it would make things much more difficult. He sighed and stroked his chin.

"I guess I could use a challenge…" He mumbled to himself as he thought.

Even if he were to bring her along as he kills Ozzy, he would have to find out what to do with her afterwards. Than again, he wasn't even sure what he would do with himself afterwards. He lost his chain as a souvenir to all his previous accomplishments of killing the humans, so maybe it would be best if he forgot about them and started over completely, no matter how wrong it felt to him to forget his previous accomplishments. Thrax was suddenly snapped back to reality when he heard a nearby rustle. He looked up and saw the little girl climbing into a cardboard box full of small little foam pieces.

'Curious girl, aren't you?' He thought, watching her.

He studied the girl. No doubt she was a young cell. She had a caramel brown colored membrane and hair in two low pigtails that barely reached her elbows. She wore a small shirt and skirt with slippers and stockings, much like an average little girl might wear. Thrax knew she couldn't wear those forever; he was gonna have to get her some new clothes.

'Clothes? What am I, her father? Nah, I better get rid of her quick before this gets out of hand.' He thought to himself.

"Thrax?" The little girl called out.

Thrax looked over at her to see her playing with the small pieces of styrofoam in the small cardboard box.

"What is it, baby?" He asked.

"I'm hungry…" She said.

He sighed. He knew it was only gonna be a matter of time.

"Fine, I'll go get you somethin' to eat. Stay here."

He was about to head for the door until he was stopped again.

"Wait! Thrax!" She said.

He turned around, slightly annoyed.

"What?" He asked impatiently.

"I gotta pee pee…"

He rubbed his eye templates in frustration.

"Than go pee."

"But I don't know where the bathroom is."

He grabbed her hand and quickly led her to the bathroom, irritated, then opened the bathroom door.

"There. Now go pee." He said.

She poked her head through the door. The bathroom was admittedly a bit messy, mostly with weird brown and green gunk in the sink, bathtub and toilet, which was most likely mold and other stuff that may have accumulated in the abandoned apartment. She cringed.

"Ewe…" She said.

Thrax then headed towards the door again in an attempt to get her some food.

"No, wait!"

She ran over to him and gently grabbed onto his coat. He ran his claws through his dreads in a frustrated manner, growling silently to himself.

"What. Do. You. Want?" Thrax asked, resisting the urge to duct tape her mouth shut.

"Please don't leave me. I don't wanna be alone. Mommy's friend will find me…"

'What the hell does she mean by that?' Thrax thought.

None the less, he responded casually.

"Mommy's friend isn't gonna find you. Now go pee and wait until I get back." He said.

"Promise you'll come back?"

He looked down at the girl and studied her facial features. She looked worried and even a bit scared, staring up at Thrax with those big brown eyes. Damn those big cute eyes. Damn her. He released a soft sigh and gently placed his palm on her head, careful not to cut her with his claws, then began stroking her head a bit in an attempt to reassure her.

"I promise…" He mumbled.

She smiled softly and released his coat as if giving him permission to leave. He mentally chuckled at this then made his way out, but not without stealing one glance over his shoulder at Annabelle, before shutting the door. He immediately began to get nervous. Would've something were to happen while he was gone? Would've someone were to break in and find her? Would've she does something and accidentally hurts herself? Would've she runs off and gets lost?

'Why do I care so much? She's just a kid! If something happens to her than oh well!' He thought to himself.

He tried to convince himself that he didn't care for the little girl and was soon at a nearby corner store. He made sure not to draw too much attention, wearing his shades and his trench coat so no one were to notice him. It was amazing how only a pair of sunglasses and a coat could make such a successful disguise. He looked around the store, spotting plenty of snacks he could get for the girl, but he still knew that he was gonna have to somehow find some real food if they were gonna stay alive and healthy. He grabbed a few snacks for the girl, shoving it in his pockets, and luckily spotted some canned alphabet soup on the shelves.

"This'll have to do for now…" He said.

Thrax grabbed the can and slid it into his coat pocket, when suddenly,

"Hey! I saw that! What do ya' think you're doin', huh!?" One of the store manager's said.

Thrax looked over his shoulder to see one of the store manager's, who seemed to be an old but aggressive germ with a pot belly. He scowled at Thrax, unaware of who or what this virus was, and growled in an attempt to intimidate him, grabbing a broom stick and almost poking Thrax with it.

"Get outta this store, hobbo! We have enough homeless people try'na steal our stuff, we don't need no mo'!"

Thrax chuckled in amusement and lifted his shades, then pulled out his killer trademark claw, letting it glow a bright orange.

"Y'all really don't know who y'all messin' with, do ya'?" Thrax said.

The manager gasped, his eyes widening in shock. Thrax let the tip of his killer claw touch the end of the broom stick, and immediately it disintegrated. The germ gasped and tried to flee, but the killer virus grabbed him from behind and put his claw at his throat, slicing it mercilessly and letting him fall to the ground as thick green gunk oozed out of the germ as he gagged on his own fluids and twitched, trying to hold on for dear life, but soon his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he died. The teenage germ cashier stood there with wide eyes, looking down at his dead manager, then up at Thrax. Thrax smirked then looked at the cashier with piercing gold eyes.

"You didn't see anything." Thrax said.

"S-See what?" The shaky teenage boy responded.

"Good boy."

Thrax slid his shades back on, humming another song to himself with a devious smirk on his face as he left the store. When he got back to the apartment, he opened the door and looked around.

"Anna?" He called out, looking around.

She was no where in sight. His eyes widened a bit and he quickly rushed to the bathroom and swung the door open. She wasn't there. Then he rushed to the empty bedroom and checked there. She wasn't there either. He checked the kitchen and was almost panicking until he heard a giggle. He shot his head around to the direction of the voice. He heard a familiar rustle and walked over to a cardboard box, opening the lid. The little girl giggled and popped out, grinning with her hands high in the air.

"You found me!" She said.

Thrax sighed in relief that she was okay, but also in annoyance at the fact that she nearly made him panic. He then carefully lifted her up out the box.

"Baby, you can't be hidin' from me like that." He said.

"But I like playing hide and seek. I used to play it with mommy sometimes." She said.

"Yeah, well, I'm not your mommy." He said, setting her down onto the floor.

The words had came out a bit harsher than he intended. The little girl rubbed her arm in response, looking down at the floor a bit.

"When am I gonna see mommy again?" She asked.

"…"

The virus wished he knew how to handle this situation. He looked out the window to think for a second then back at her.

"I don't think you're gonna see her anytime soon, kid." He said.

"Is she in the sky?"

He knew what she had meant.

"I don't know, baby. But she's gone..." He answered truthfully.

Annabelle sadly looked down at the ground. Thrax mentally cursed himself for making the girl upset when she was just cheery moments ago. Thrax knew it would just be cruel to leave her sad like that as she thought about the death of her mommy, so he cleared his throat and tried to change the subject.

"Dinner will be ready soon." He said.

He pulled out all the packaged food from his coat pockets and put them on the kitchen counter, then looked over at the dishes. They were pretty dusty. He heard the little girl cough and sneeze.

"Guess I'm gonna have to clean this place up a bit…" He mumbled.

He sighed and quickly washed the dishes, uncanned the soup, poured the soup into a bowl then quickly warmed up the soup within seconds by dipping his glowing deadly claw into the soup and letting it heat up. The girl watched, fascinated by this. Thrax stopped after about a second when the soup started boiling up then set up a table for her to eat on. He set the bowl of soup on the table with a cup of water beside it and a spoon. He had to admit, he did pretty good for someone with no fatherly experience.

"There. Now eat up." Thrax said.

Annabelle looked down at her hot steamy soup then back up at Thrax.

"How did you do that?" She asked.

Thrax glanced at her then began to look for cleaning utensils.

"Do what?" He asked, knowing what she meant but just wanting to be sure.

"Your claw. You made it glow and get hot. And it warmed up the soup!" She said in complete fascination.

Thrax couldn't hold back the smirk on his face as he pulled out some stuff from the cabinets.

"It takes skill, baby. Only certain people can handle this kind of power." Thrax said in a bragging manner.

Of course he was showing off a bit, but his statement was true. When he was younger, he used to not be able to control his claw well. Sometimes he would accidentally burn a lot of things such as furniture, items and rarely he would accidentally kill small animal creatures, regretfully. But as he grew older, he slowly began to learn how to gain more control over his abilities and soon had complete control. If his claw did glow without him controlling it, it would only be out of instinct as a defense mechanism. None the less, he was proud of his unique ability, and had pride in having his deadly claw.

"Thrax? Are you a virus?" She asked.

Thrax sort of thought she had figured it out by now which was why ge didn't bother mentioning it. He nodded in response and set all the cleaning utensils on the counter.

"Mama's friends said viruses are bad." She said.

He looked over his shoulder at the girl then smirked and decided to have a little fun with her. He slowly walked over to her, wearing that evil grin on his face as he did so, his footsteps tapping against the wooden floor, until he was right in front of her. He crouched down to meet her height as she sat on the chair, his golden eyes glowing with mystery.

"That's because we are, baby. Mercilessly evil..." He said in a soft, low voice.

He expected her to be scared, or maybe even nervous, but watched as she stared at him with a blank face. Then seconds later she smiled and giggled. Thrax was caught off guard, not expecting this reaction. He raised a brow.

'Is she taunting me?' He thought.

"You're funny. Of course you're not evil." She said.

Thrax felt taken aback, offended. He frowned at the little girl.

"What makes you say that?" He asked.

She smiled and looked up at him with those big bright eyes. Damn it with those eyes. There was something about those eyes that made it almost impossible to look away from them. A strange, unknown feeling began to erupt inside of Thrax, making his heart beat a bit faster than it normally would.

"Because if you were evil, you wouldn't have saved me." She answered.

"..."

Thrax studied the little girl. He didn't want to believe what she said was true but deep down he knew it was. He could've just left the girl to die, but he didn't. He saved her. And he knew it was too late to back out, because now the girl was gonna remember him forever. She's gonna remember who saved her and brought her with him to his temporary 'home'. So without another word, he stood up and began to clean up the house, gathering all the trash and cardboard boxes and disposing of them. He thought about dumping them out in a nearby dumpster but found it much easier to just disintegrate it all with his claw.

The girl watched in fascination as she ate her alphabet soup. After handling the trash, Thrax swept, mopped, scrubbed and dusted the apartment. It was a lot of work, even for the virus, but by the time he was done it was officially nighttime. Exhausted, he looked over at the little girl. She had already crawled onto the mattress, curled up and sound asleep with no blanket or pillow. He sighed.

"The couch it is…" He said.

Making his way towards the couch, he laid down and began falling asleep, mentally noting to start making plans of killing Ozzy tomorrow.


	3. Fatherly Feelings

The next morning, Thrax was had gotten up early while Annabelle was still asleep. He hadn't slept long last night, mostly because he couldn't stop thinking about his situation, including his plans to kill Osmosis, breaking his records and making it into the medical books, but mostly he's been thinking about the girl. He didn't know why he couldn't get his mind off of her. Occasionally that night he would open his eyes and glance at the girl as she slept on the mattress on the other side of the wall from the couch he laid on. Everything from the look in her bright brown eyes to the fearless trust she had for Thrax caused the virus to contemplate about her restlessly.

He wasn't used to anyone having no fear around him, or not even the slightest bit of nervousness. Even the germs he used to help him take down Frank had felt nervous of their 'boss' and definitely grew afraid if Thrax were to intimidate them. The only other person who pretty much didn't show fear for him was Ozzy, but that's only because he showed determination and bravery towards him, unafraid and ready to take on the virus. But this little girl was different. When she looked him in the eyes, she didn't show fear, nor nervousness, nor determination to defeat him. She looked at him as if he were a friend, or a father, even though he stated he clearly wasn't her father.

 _'A-Are you my daddy?'_

He remembered those words, the very first four words the girl had asked him. That must've meant her mother and father had broke it off. Annabelle must've not even met her father, or remembered him anyway. That means, whether Thrax wanted to admit it or not, the little girl must've saw him as a sort of father figure towards her. He should've saw it coming. None the less, Thrax got up early to finish cleaning the house until it literally looked brand new. All cracks, dents and broken things had been fixed, all trash had been disintegrated or dumped out and almost every inch of the apartment had been wiped clean. Surprisingly enough, the air conditioning and heating had been functioning well, as well as the faucets and other normal household gadgets were working fine.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead when he was finished and saw the girl was still asleep on the mattress, now in a different sleeping position with her hands folded underneath her head, facing the wall and curled up a bit.

 _'I can run to the store and get her some milk and cereal...'_ He thought.

He was heading towards the door when he heard what sounded like a chitter and looked over his shoulder to see the girl shivering while asleep. Thrax hadn't notice the harsh breeze flowing through open window until than. He closed the window and grabbed a small pillow and large blanket from the closet then walked back over to the sleeping girl. Very carefully, he slid his hand underneath her head, lifting it a bit, then slid the soft white pillow slowly underneath her head, before gently setting her head onto it. Then he fanned out the burgundy blanket to straighten it, slowly letting it float down onto the little girl. She stopepd shivering, breathing softly and now comfortable on the mattress.

He then headed out, locking the door behind him with the key to the apartment he found while cleaning. He walked back to the corner store, shades on, walking in calm and casually. The same cashier from last time looked up and saw him. He gulped and trembled a bit, nervous.

"G-Good morning, sir." He said.

Thrax looked over at him then smirked in slight amusement.

"Mornin' baby." He said, making his way down the aisle.

Humming he a jazz song to himself as usual, he grabbed a cereal box and a jug of milk, then dropped a few bucks onto the counter.

"Keep the change." He said, heading out.

The cashier nodded.

"Th-Thank you, come again." He said.

Thrax then left and got to the apartment right on time as the girl began to wake up. She yawned softly and sat up, rubbing her sleepy eyes. He grabbed a bowl and poured the cereal in it then the milk and set it on the table.

"Breakfast is on the table." He said.

The girl nodded and quickly went to the bathroom before coming back out.

"I need a toothbrush." She said.

He looked over at her.

"You can brush your teeth later. Just sit down and eat." He said.

"But mama said I always have to brush my teeth first..."

"I already told you, I'm not your mama. Now eat."

The little girl dragged herself over to the chair.

"Okay…" She said, followed by a sigh.

The virus rolled her eyes. The virus was a hygienic person, no doubt, but hygiene just didn't seem important at the moment. He only wanted to offer the girl food and shelter to avoid doing something he shouldn't. After all, this wasn't his daughter, and they weren't at all related. In fact, he was thinking about just dropping her off at a random doorstep, stranger or not. While eating, the girl accidentally dropped her spoon.

"Uh oh…" She said.

She got off the chair and reached underneath the table to get her spoon. She picked it up, only to stand back up and hit her head hard against the table, making the bowl of cereal drop onto the floor and spill.

"Ouch!" She said, rubbing her head.

Thrax groaned and walked over to her.

"Damn it, Anna…" He growled, walking towards the table to clean up the mess.

She whimpered and began to tremble, causing the tall virus to cease to a stop.

"I-I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I didn't mean it, please don't hit me!" She begged.

She sniffled and began to cry softly. Thrax was shocked, freezing in place as he tried to process what was going on.

"Please don't hurt me! I promise it won't happen again!"

She began to sob. Thrax felt a constant pricking pain in his chest with each sobbing sound that came from her mouth. He was confused, shocked and unsure of what to do, still trying to figure out what the hell just happened. He tried to logically put the pieces together, wondering what triggered her to instantly become afraid of him as he collected his thoughts. Had he sounded intimidating? He didn't recall raising his voice at her or anything. He glanced at his claw. It wasn't glowing or burning in a threatening manner, so that couldn't have been it. What the hell did the virus do?

He took a deep breath and decided to do something he thought any adult would do to comfort a child. He slowly, confusingly walked over to the little girl, crouching down in front of her and gently grabbing onto her shoulder with one hand, using his other hand to cup her chin and make her face him.

"Baby, look at me." He said.

She sniffled and opened her tear-soaked eyes, looking at Thrax. He felt an invisible punch on the chest as tears rushed out her eyes. Crying children usually annoyed the shit out of him, but he only felt guilt and aching pain in his chest as Annabelle cried, unsure why. Was it something he said? He sighed softly and carefully wiped her tears away with his claw.

"I'm not gonna hit you. I would never hit you. What made you even think I was gonna hit you?" Thrax asked, speaking softly.

She sniffled.

"M-Mama's friend hits me when I drop stuff..." He said.

He froze in place, processing this new information. Whoever 'Mama's Friend' was didn't sound too friendly, and he definitely sounded like someone Thrax would take pleasure in shoving his claw through. The thought of someone hitting Annabelle made the virus frown deeply. He then looked down at Annabelle again.

"Who is mama's friend?" He asked.

"I think... Well mama calls him Ben. He comes into the house sometimes to watch me while mama's at work. He gets mad when I do stuff wrong like dropping stuff…"

Knowing it was a man hitting her only made him angrier.

"Where does he hit you when you do stuff wrong?" Thrax asked.

She pointed to several parts of her body where she could remember being hit at. Thrax felt something snap inside of him. An image of any person hitting a child in the wrong way made him damn near furious. He tried desperately not to clench his hands on her small shoulders, but his grip did noticeably get firmer.

"Do you know where he lives?" He asked.

She shook her head.

"Does he do anything else to you?"

She looked down at her hands and twiddled her fingers.

"S-Sometimes, he'll…"

You could've mistaken Thrax for a statue at that moment.

"He'll...what?"

She shifted uncomfortably.

"He'll try to do...weird things."

Thrax knew what she meant and didn't want to imagine that in his head. He growled lowly to himself, staring down at the ground so the girl wouldn't have to see the anger in his face. Not only was this man a child abuser, but a pedophile as well. And if this man really is 'Mama's Friend' than she must've had no idea. Would've there never were any fire and Thrax never took her home? Would that man still be doing disgraceful 'things' to her? Or would've the girl survived the fire, and the man came and took her home to live…with him?!

He didn't question why it angered him to know that a man had taken advantage of this little girl he barely knew. He didn't question why he wanted to beat the living shit out of whomever 'Ben' was until he bled to death. He didn't question why he'd rather dump all his plans of destroying Ozzy just to kill Ben, regardless of who or what saw him do it. All he knew was, he was feeling this way, and he didn't give a damn why.

"Th-Thrax?" The girl called out.

Thrax was dragged out of his thoughts by the sound of her soft voice. He looked up at the girl looking stone serious, but couldn't hide the poorly hidden sympathy on his face.

"Listen to me, Anna, baby. I would never hit you. And I would definitely never…'touch' you. What that man did to you was wrong, and if I ever see that fucker near you, I'll…"

He shut his mouth in the middle of his sentence, mentally slapping his forehead for using such language in front of her like that.

 _'What the hell is wrong with you, Thrax?'_ He mentally asked himself.

He was about to speak again to apologize when suddenly, she hugged him. Surprised, he stayed crouched down in front of her, letting him gently squeeze his form.

"Thank you…" She whispered.

He was silent at first, then sighed softly and slowly wrapped his slender arms carefully around her small form. He couldn't deny the warmth in his chest at Annabelle's actions, and yet the river of questions didn't cease to flow in his head, he decided not to even attempt to fish out answers during that moment.

"Don't mention it, baby…" He said.

Nighttime soon came. Thrax had found a notebook and wrote down his plans for destroying Ozzy. He had several plans but only wanted to try the best one. He could sneak into the police department and wait until Ozzy was alone then kill him. Then again, there would be cops everywhere, and he wasn't sure if he should be risking so much, especially if he were to bring Annabelle along. He could wait until Ozzy got home, thinking he could follow him home after work. But would've that big pill Drix was there to assist Ozzy? He knew it would be a challenge taking down Osmosis and Drix at the same time.

"Maybe I can lure him somewhere alone…" He said.

As he thought about this plan, he looked up to see Anna come out of the bathroom and climb onto the bed.

"Thrax? Can you sing me a lullaby?" She asked.

Thrax didn't hold back a snort. Who the hell did she think he was?

"Nah, baby, I'm not much for lullabies."

"Than can you read me a bedtime story?"

He sighed.

"Yeah, I don't think so, kid."

"Please?"

"…"

He sighed and grumbled, setting his notebook down. The girl had already taken away enough time from him with her distractions and now she wanted a bedtime story? And why was it so hard for him to just deny her request? He rolled his eyes, walking over to her.

"Fine. Now lay down." He said.

She nodded and slid underneath her blanket, laying down on the mattress. He sat down beside her, feeling annoyed as he tried to think of something.

"Um, okay, let's see... Once upon a time, there was a little cell." He said. "His name was…Bobby, I guess. And Bobby liked to play with his puppy, named…Mud."

She smiled, listening closely and a lot more interested in the story than Thrax was.

"Bobby and Mud used to play all the time, until one day, a bigger, meaner cell began to bully Bobby. Bobby felt so sad and helpless, until Mud ran up to the bully and bit him. The bully ran off screaming and told his mommy. Then his mommy called the police and took Mud away from Bobby to a sad place where Bobby could never see him ever again. The end."

The girl looked up at him sadly. Thrax had a hidden expression on his face, his magenta dreads covering up parts of his cace. His expression held a deep secret that was somehow linked to this made-up story of his, but refused to allow her to know.

"Bobby never got to see Mud again?" She asked.

"No. They took Mud to a bad place…" He said.

"That's a sad story…"

"I know, baby. Now go to sleep."

"Do you have a mommy, Thrax?"

"…"

Thrax studied the little girl.

 _'Where the hell did that come from?'_ He thought.

"…why do you ask?" He said.

She shrugged. He sighed.

"No. Viruses are too dangerous for mommies…" He said.

"You don't seem so dangerous to me, Thrax." She smiled softly.

Thrax was caught off guard, sitting there silently, then raised a brow down at the little girl. But before he knew it, the little girl was asleep.

"…"

He sighed and stroked her head once.

"Goodnight, baby…"

Then he walked over to the couch and fell asleep.


	4. The Not-So-Organized-Plan

The next day, Thrax had already gave the girl another bowl of cereal. He decided today must be the day he took action. He's wasted enough time already. His plan was simple. He'd lure Ozzy somewhere secluded then attack. But oddly enough, as the hours went by, Thrax felt less and less encouraged to do so, as if destroying Ozzy was beginning to become something he didn't really find interest in doing anymore. Trying to shove that thought down the drain, Thrax fixed his clothes a bit and was about to head out to go on with his plans, only to be stopped by the little girl.

"Thrax? Where are you going?" Annabelle asked.

"Don't worry 'bout it, baby. I'll be back as soon as possible." He said.

"Can I come with you?"

Thrax looked over his shoulder at the little girl then sighed.

"No. It's too dangerous." He said.

"But I wanna come with you, Thrax…"

He grumbled. Why did kids have to be so difficult?

"Anna, baby, you have to stay here-"

The girl giggled and ran up to Thrax, wrapping her small arms and small legs around his leg.

"I'm going with you!" She said, grinning up at him.

He growled in annoyance and slight embarrassment.

"For the last time, Anna, you're not-"

He looked down at the girl, staring up at him, grinning excitedly, her eyes twinkling like stars. He couldn't deny how cute the little girl looked as she held onto his leg like a cute little koala on a branch. She looked so happy and excited, but not because she was gonna get a gift or go anywhere special, but just because she was going somewhere with Thrax, by his side, as if it made her feel happy to be with the virus. He groaned to himself, feeling incapable of saying no and upsetting her.

"Fine, fine…" He said, giving in.

"Yay!" The girl cheered.

He picked the girl up carefully with his hands and held her, walking out the door. It did feel better for the virus, knowing the little girl was safely with him and out of harm's way. But how was he gonna kill Ozzy with her there? He honestly didn't want the little girl to witness the murder of the cop. Perhaps he could tell her to close her eyes and ears once he does the killing. He walked out the apartmet with the little girl, making sure to wear his shades and trench coat, and headed down the street in search for Osmosis Jones. Soon enough, he caught the blue cop walking with his best friend Drix from what seemed like the Donut Shop, grinning and chatting. He smirked.

"Now all I have to do is lure him in, and-"

"Wow!" Annabelle said, cutting him off.

Distracted, Thrax looked at her and saw her staring at a candy shop. Thrax raised a brow then looked back up, only to see Ozzy and Drix were gone. Damn. He sighed.

"Thrax?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Can we go in there, pretty please?"

He sighed again in frustration.

 _'I knew I should've left her at the apartment!'_ He thought.

He looked down the street. Ozzy and Drix shouldn't be too far if they were walking. Maybe he could get lucky and find them. Then he looked back at Annabelle in his arms. She looked up at Thrax, her begging eyes staring up at his as she had high hopes of going into the candy store.

 _'Awe, to hell with it…'_ Thrax thought.

He grumbled and headed inside the candy store with her.

"Yay!" Annabelle said happily, throwing her small hands in the air in victory.

They entered the candy store, noticing that there was candy in almost every corner. Lollipops, candy canes, peppermints, jolly ranchers, rock candy and tons more each organized in their own way, some on the walls, some in containers and some on the shelves. Annabelle stared in awe, looking around. Thrax sighed.

"Alright, kid, what do you want?" Thrax asked.

She looked around, not sure which one to pick, until she saw a big rainbow-colored lollipop on a high shelf. She grinned.

"Can I have that one?" She asked, pointing to it.

Thrax looked over at it then headed towards it.

"Sure, kid." He said.

It was on a high shelf, oddly enough, but he knew he could easily reach it. However, the little girl insisted that she did it, so the virus allowed her to sit on his shoulders as she reached for the lollipop and gave it to the cashier lady. The cashier lady smiled and scanned the lollipop.

"Nice choice. Kids seem to love these lollipops." The cashier lady said. "You have a very beautiful daughter, sir."

Thrax wasn't sure what to say. He could say that she wasn't his daughter and that she was actually just a little girl he saved from a house fire and decided to let live with him while he planned on destroying an immune cell that almost ended his life, but decided it would be easier (and safer) to just go along with it.

"Thanks, baby…" He said.

Thrax gave her the right amount of money as the cashier handed Annabelle the lollipop, smiling.

"You know, I've never seen you around here before. Mind me asking where you're from?" She asked.

Thrax was getting slightly annoyed with the questions and would usually just kill whoever annoyed him and move on, but oddly enough, he did not wish to do that, especially in front of the girl.

"I'mma traveler." He said.

"Oh, I see. Well have a nice day, sir. And you as well, sweetie." She said, waving.

"Bye bye!" Annabelle said, waving happily.

The cashier smiled at the little girl as they left. Thrax couldn't help but glance at the cashier one last time. She was a light red, almost pink colored blood cell with bright emerald green eyes, freckles and her hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a pink and white uniform, cap included. She seemed like any ordinary cell but something about her caught the virus' attention. Could it relate to why he decided not to kill her when she questioned him?

None the less, he left the candy store with Annabelle sitting on his shoulders as she happily licked her lollipop. He held her small legs in place, just to make sure she wouldn't fall off his shoulders as he headed down the street in search for Ozzy.

 _'No doubt he's far by now…'_ He thought.

He scanned the area. There were citizens everywhere, but no sign of Ozzy and Drix. Maybe he should've thought of a more organized plan. Moments later, while the undercover virus was just about to turn to go home,

"Hey! You!" Someone said.

Thrax turned around to see a policeman, an immune cell, headed his direction.

 _'Damn.'_ Thrax thought.

The short policeman examined Thrax, standing in front of him in suspicion.

"What's your name, sonny?" He asked.

He seemed a little old, but still looked well enough for the job.

"Tony." Thrax lied.

Annabelle looked down at Thrax confusingly.

 _'I swear if she blows my cover, I'm gonna be pissed…'_ He thought.

The policeman examined him again.

"Hm, Tony, eh? You're pretty tall for a cell. And who might this little young darlin' be?" He asked, looking up at Annabelle.

Annabelle gently but firmly took a hold of one of Thrax's magenta dreads, not only for balance on his shoulders but also in a bit of nervousness, finding comfort in clinging onto the virus and staying close to him. Thrax could easily tell, and in response, spoke.

"She's my daughter. Is there a problem here, offica'?" He asked.

He continued studying Thrax like a billboard before stroking his short beard.

"Hm…where ya' from?" He asked.

"Traveler. Just got here." He said.

The officer nodded.

"Very well. Carry on." He said.

Thrax walked off in relief. The girl still had his dread in her small grasp, staring over her shoulder at the cop as they walked off. Thrax squeezed her small legs gently, catching her attention as she looked at him.

"Don't worry, baby. Big Daddy Thrax has everything under control." He said.

Feeling less nervous, she smiled and sat a bit straighter. Thrax couldn't help but smile as well, unsure why, as he continued making his way down the street.

* * *

They arrived back home with several bags in their hands. Thrax figured that since they were out anyway, it would be a good idea to get some clothes and hygienic matieral for Annabelle. When they got home, she happily placed her things where they needed to be. Thrax sighed.

"What a long day..." He said, glancing out the window.

Somewhere out there, Osmosis Jones was living his life freely, happily. Thrax couldn't accept that. He needed the white blood cell to be dead. He couldn't let him live, not while knowing he took Thrax's life away from him and destroyed his chances of breaking that record, like most viruses wanted to do. And now he was stuck living in an abandoned apartment complex with a little girl in which he saved from a house fire. Who would have ever saw that coming?

"Thrax?" The girl said, walking over to him.

"What?" He asked, looking down at her.

"Can you help me take a bath?"

"…"

Thrax sighed. He should've known it was gonna happen sooner or later. He could say no and let her do it herself, but she probably didn't even know how, and therefore there would be no point of her getting into the bathtub if he didn't help clean her.

"Fine. I'll go start it…" He said.

She smiled happily. Thrax took off his trench coat and hung it up - fully revealing the gray turtleneck he wore against his muscular red body - before walking into the bathroom and sitting on the edge of the bathtub, starting the water and making sure it was warm.

 _'I suppose I'll still have time to make dinner. I'll wash her up then give her some time to play in the tub while I'm cooking…'_ He thought.

He grabbed a bottle of liquid soap and squeezed it into the tub, letting lots of bubbles form to complete the bubble bath.

 _'Than when she's asleep and out of the way, I can continue my plans of killing Ozzy, this time with a more organized plan. But would've she stays awake a little longer? She might ask me to tell her another story…'_

He sighed and got her night clothes, folding them up beside a small towel and setting them on top of the toilet lid.

 _'We'll just have to wait and see.'_

"Anna, come. The bath is ready." He said from the bathroom.

Annabelle ran into the bathroom, smiling.

"I can get in now?" She asked.,

He nodded. The little girl began taking off her clothes, struggling a few times but managing to do so. Thrax looked away awkwardly as she did this, not wanting to feel perverted in any way, then looked back at her when she got in the bathtub. The bottom half of her body was underneath the water as she sat in the tub.

"It's a little cold…" She said, pretending to chitter.

Thrax looked at the bathwater and knew it was almost perfectly warm, but he also knew why she had claimed it to be cold and what she expected Thrax again. He couldn't help but chuckle at this, pulling out his special killer claw.

"Alright, just this once." Thrax said. "But I'm gonna need ya' not to get so close, or else I might burn ya' membrane off."

Anna nodded and kept her distance, watching excitedly as his killer claw glowed a bright orange. Quickly he dipped his claw into the bath water and back out before it became too hot and boiled. The little girl giggled and clapped her hands, feeling a wave of extra warmth engulfing the bottom half of her body from within the bathwater.

"Again, again!" She said.

"Not tonight, baby. Maybe some other time." He said.

"Awe..."

He chuckled then remembered that he needed to clean her. He scrubbed some soap on the rag and began washing her. It was fairly easier than he thought it would be. She didn't squirm, feel uncomfortable, chat too much or splash so much that there was more water everywhere else in the bathroom than in the bathtub. Instead, she played with the bubbles and two rubber alien bath toys that was found in one of the boxes of the apartment, most likely belonging to a child before. Thrax had to admit, he enjoyed watching the little girl impersonate the aliens as she played with them on a pretend mission to abduct all the soap bubbles in the tub to their invisible spaceship. It was amusing and cute to watch.

When she was done washing her up, he let her play a little longer in the bathtub as he cooked dinner. He pulled out a cookbook he found in the abandoned apartment and successfully made a dinner meal for the both of them. When he set the table and made their plates, he picked the girl up from the bathtub, drying her off with a towel and sliding her pajamas on. She happily ate at the dinner table with Thrax, occasional asking Thrax random questions. He didn't seem to mind them, for they weren't any personal questions about him.

When she was finished, she brushed her teeth and crawled onto her mattress. She hadn't asked for a story or lullaby, thankfully, so that gave Thrax some time to himself to think about how to kill Ozzy. There were so many ideas but only a few were bound to work. Perhaps he could sneak around town again and get some more information to be better prepared, such as whether Ozzy might go on vacation in a part of Frank's body or if he plans on doing something alone.

Deciding it was best to follow him again until he was alone, he looked over at the sleeping cell on the mattress.

 _'What am I gonna do with you?' He thought to himself._

The virus just wasn't sure anymore.


	5. Hero & Villian On The Same Day

The virus woke up the next morning feeling stiff. He groaned out and popped his back then looked at his arm. It was fully healed by now, making him feel less weak than he felt before. He easily prepared a bowl of oatmeal for Anna before heading out with her on his shoulders, throwing on his shades and his trench coat. She didn't seem to ask for anything such as going into another store this time, thankfully enough, but rather looked around. Thrax would glance up every now and then at Anna to make sure she was okay, which was strange for the virus to do but he didn't question it.

The virus headed over to the police station, but while heading there, he accidentally bumped into an elderly woman, making her stumble backwards and drop her small purse.

"Oh dear…" The woman said.

Thrax looked at the woman then sighed and reached for the purse, trying to seem polite by picking it up for her. But before he could, a germ ran by and snatched the purse from the ground, dashing off down the street. Thrax looked confused, processing what just happened then frowned. Germs could be so pesky at times. He was about to shrug and just walk off, no longer caring for the purse or the old lady, but then heard Anna gasp.

"He stole her purse!" Anna said. "You have to get it back, Thrax!"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. Of course the child he rescued just had to be so caring, didn't she?

"Fine, fine. Hold on tight." He said.

He dashed off after the thief. It was hardly a challenge for him to catch up and quickly snatch the germ up by his hoodie. He pulled him up close to his face and glared at him through his sunglasses. The thief trembled and chittered in the virus' hold, staring through his sunglasses, and he could've sworn he saw a pair of golden irises.

"Yay! You caught the bad man!" Anna said.

Thrax wanted to disintegrate him for making him waste his time, but held back that urge. Instead he snatched the purse from the thief and dropped him onto the ground. He then turned to give it back to the elderly woman, but before he could, he heard a nearby voice.

"That man just saved that woman's purse!" Someone yelled out.

"Wow, what a hero!" Another cell said.

The group of citizens began clapping and making their way towards Thrax. Thrax regretted his decision of saving that old lady's purse because of all the unexpected attention it attracted, however Anna seemed fascinated and giggled while clapping her hands with the crowd.

"Look, I was just doin' the lady a favor, now back off before I-"

"Can we get your autograph, sir?" A kid asked.

He raised a brow.

"What? Autograph? For retrieving a purse?"

"Yeah man! Most people don't do that kind of stuff around here! You're a hero!" The kid said.

'Is it really that easy?' Thrax thought.

"Sir, sir, can we get your name?" A news reporter said while an assistant held a camera towards Thrax.

'Damn. I gotta get out of here quick.' He thought.

"Thank you young man, for saving my purse." The lady said, smiling as she carefully took the purse from the virus.

"Uh, don't mention it…" He said.

As everyone was getting closer and closer to the virus, he suddenly dashed off down the street with Anna.

"Hey! He's getting away!" Someone said.

Thrax's new paparazzi and fans began chasing him, but luckily he was a lot quicker. Too bad some of them thought of getting into their vehicles and chasing him.

"Damn these useless lifeforms!" Thrax said as he continued running away from the group.

Anna giggled, holding on tight to his dreads and head, making sure she did not fall off the virus' shoulders. This was all just fun and games to her, having seemingly no idea what was actually going on. Thrax made a turn through a few alleys before finding a street with barely any people on it. He spotted the same candy store he had brought Anna into and saw that same cashier lady getting into her car. Now was his chance.

He darted towards the vehicle and opened the back doors, sliding Anna in then getting in behind the driver's seat. The cashier had already gotten into the driver's seat but before she could register what was going on, she saw a glowing orange deadly claw in front of her face and gasped, her eyes widening as she sunk into her seat.

"Drive." Thrax demanded.

"O-Okay." The young lady said.

Without hesitation, she started her engine and began driving down the road, not daring to stop for dear life. Thrax had kept the deadly claw close to her neck as she drove to make sure she didn't try anything funny. Frightened, she hadn't even dared looking back to see exactly who this person was, although the voice sounded very familiar.

After a minute of dead silence and driving away from the city, the girl gulped and bravely spoke.

"A-Any particular direction?" She asked.

Thrax thought. At first he was gonna tell her to drop them off near the apartment they lived in, but that was too risky. She could call the cops afterwards and Thrax didn't want to have to kill her in front of Anna. So he got a better idea.

"Take us to your place." He said.

"M-My place? B-But I-"

He brought the claw closer to her neck, making her gasp and shut up immediately before turning towards the direction of her home. Moments later, they arrived. Thrax smirked.

"Good girl. Anna, go in the house." Thrax said.

"Okay!" She said, exiting the car and heading in the house, having no idea what was going on.

Thrax then looked at the girl through the rear view mirror, who looked at him in return with fear in her emerald green eyes. Her eyes widened when she realized who it was.

"Sorry to have to do this to ya' baby." He said, pointing his claw at her face.

"W-Wait, stop! P-Please don't do this, please!" She begged. "I-I promise I won't tell anyone!"

"Hmm, no thanks, baby. Promises tend to be broken a lot nowadays." He said.

"N-No, I mean it! I won't tell anyone! I swear! I-I'll do whatever you want, just p-please don't do this!"

Tears began to well up in the eyes of the cell. Strangely, this made it harder for the virus to kill her. Normally he would've just ended the cell without hesitation, but there was something about this cell that made him not want to end her life like this…yet he couldn't understand why.

He snapped back to reality at the sight of tears rolling down her cheeks and occasional sniffling. He could see her bottom lip quivering no matter how much she tried resisting and her body trembling almost violently. That's when the virus couldn't take it anymore. He let his claw burn out, pulled away then got out of the car. The girl watched confusingly then saw him open the driver's door then snatch her out of the car.

She gasped, especially at how close her body was to the virus. She stared up at him as he stared down at her. He then took off his sunglasses, causing her eyes to widen more at his golden irises, then he cupped her chin.

"Listen closely, baby. I will spare you your life under one condition. You will keep me and Anna hidden within your house and seek to my every need. If I tell you to do something, you do it, else you're dead. Got it?" He said.

She nodded, still trembling in fear.

"Good girl. Now dry those tears, baby."

He wiped away her tears away carefully with his claw. She flinched a bit with the claw close to her face, but thankfully it wasn't glowing and ready to kill at the moment. He then led her inside her house. She still seemed nervous and scared but cooperated none the less in fear that it would cost her life otherwise.

Anna smiled and looked around the house, not hearing or noticing any of the interaction Thrax and the cashier woman just had, then ran back to Thrax.

"Is this where we're gonna be living now, Thrax?" She asked.

He looked around a bit then smirked.

"Yes it is, baby." He said.

The poor woman whimpered.


	6. Nervous Night

Nighttime arrived seemingly fast that day. Anna was in the bedroom with Thrax, trying on clothes in the closet that were too big for her, but she didn't mind much. While Anna was busy with her dress up, Thrax was looking out the window in the bedroom in deep thought. He hadn't thought trying to kill Ozzy would lead him in a situation like this. Taking care of a little girl, living in a stranger's home after threatening to kill her otherwise and avoiding a bunch of people who think he's a hero but doesn't know he's secretly a deadly virus, wasn't quite what he expected.

Either way, he was in the situation and he was just gonna have to deal with it. Thrax then looked at Anna and thought, knowing she would be hungry soon. he walked into the living room where the girl was still standing in fear in and looked at her.

"You, prepare some dinner for tonight." Thrax ordered.

The girl shook and nodded, heading towards the kitchen.

"A-Alright, u-uh, what would you like, s-sir?" She stuttered out.

"Doesn't matter. Just fix up something for me and Anna and do it fast."

She stumbled a bit and dropped a few pots and pans out of nervousness, but soon got it together before she started cooking. Thrax leaned against the living room wall and closed his eyes, drifting back into thought as the girl cooked their dinner. He thought it was funny how he bumped into this girl twice, once in a candy store and another as he was escaping a bunch of citizens. Yet he still didn't quite know her name.

He opened his eyes then looked over at her.

"Hmm... Hey." He said.

The girl felt a chill run up her spine. She looked up at Thrax, trying not to look at him directly in his eyes.

"Y-Yes?" She asked.

"What's your name?"

"I-I, um, it's Melody."

"Melody, hm? How's tha' dinner goin'?"

"I-It will be ready soon..."

"How soon?"

"U-Um, I think in like, ten minutes?"

She blushed, getting increasingly nervous. Thrax noticed and decided to mess with her a bit for the fun of it since he didn't have much else to do for the night. He slowly walked towards her into the kitchen. She glanced over and saw him drawing nearer, growing tense. Soon Thrax was right beside her, hovering over her scared form.

"Tha' hell is this?" Thrax asked, looking down in the pot on the stove.

"I-It's, um, oatmeal?" She responded.

"Oatmeal?"

He slowly walked to the other side of her.

"Make something else." He said.

She looked at him.

"W-What?"

"You heard me. Make something else."

"But...But you said-"

Suddenly Thrax's claw glowed. He dipped it into the oatmeal, watching it bubble and boil, oozing out of the pot. Melody gasped and backed away from the hot pot and claw quickly. Thrax then tipped over the pot purposely, making it spill onto the floor before retracting his hand and looking back at her, his gaze calm yet threatening.

"Make, something, else."

He smirked then walked back into the bedroom. Melody watched him leave, feeling both scared and frustrated. She did not enjoy being treated this way, but decided to just take it. Her life depended on it. She sighed and grabbed a nearby rag, wetting it and cleaning up the spilled oatmeal from the ground. Thrax secretly watched from behind a wall. He did enjoy toying with the girl, and could think of more ideas to toy and have fun with her. But for now he decided to leave her be as she began to cook something else.

About an hour later, their new dinner was ready. Instead of oatmeal, it was steak and mashed potatoes this time. She made Thrax and Anna's plate before hesitantly making her way into the bedroom and leaving it there for them to eat. He watched her quickly dash off back into the living room away from both Thrax and Anna after delivering their food.

Anna looked at Thrax with slight confusion.

"Is she okay?" Anna asked.

"Oh she's fine, baby." Thrax answered.

"Isn't she going to eat with us? Oh! And I forgot to tell her thank you!"

Thrax chuckled at Anna's adorable politeness and gratitude.

"I'm sure she knows you're thankful. Now, eat up." Thrax said.

Anna smiled and began to eat. She found it hard to eat the steak though, so Thrax ended up having to cut it into smaller bits for her. Thrax wondered whether or not Melody was going to eat. He only saw her make two plates, one for him and one for Anna. If there's not enough left for her, maybe she'd cook herself oatmeal. Oh wait...

Thrax sighed, remembering that he intentionally wasted the oatmeal and that there was none left. He wondered if she had anything else to eat. Sure Thrax was evil but not enough to let this woman starve.

"Thrax? Are you okay?" Anna asked, noticing his thinking expression.

The virus snapped back to reality and looked down at the little cell.

"I'm fine, baby. Finish eatin'." He responded.

"Okay!"

A couple of hours later, Thrax tucked Anna into Melody's bed as she quickly fell asleep. Once she was asleep, Thrax looked over at their plates. Anna had finished eating, but Thrax only ate half of his. It wasn't that he wasn't hungry, but he couldn't seem to get a certain someone off his mind, a certain someone he hasn't seen since dinner time.

He picked up the plates and headed to the kitchen. As he expected, Melody was still in the living room, except this time she was laying on the couch and looked like she was contemplating. She was so in thought that she hadn't noticed Thrax walk into the room. Thrax set Anna's empty plate quietly in the kitchen sink then headed towards Melody with his plate.

"Hey." He called out.

Melody gasped softly and jumped, startled and finally noticing Thrax was in her presence. She quickly sat up, the feeling of fear sweeping back over her.

"Y-Yes sir?" She asked.

Thrax examined her for a second before speaking again.

"Did you eat?" He asked.

"U-Um, well...no." She answered.

"Why not?"

"T-There wasn't enough..."

"And you have nothing else to eat?"

She rubbed the back of her neck, looking away.

"I-I had planned on going grocery shopping tomorrow..."

Thrax examined her again. He had the urge to toy with her again. He didn't know why, other than the fact that it was fun to see her reaction. He smirked and unexpectedly got closer to her. The girl grew more tense.

"You sure do stutter a lot. Why is that?" Thrax mocked.

"I-I-I, y-you, u-uh..." She tried to find the right words to say.

She opened her mouth to speak but words didn't come out. Thrax continued to smirk.

"How cute. You know you shouldn't leave your mouth open like that, baby, something could happen to it~" He said.

Melody quickly shut her mouth, covering it with her hand while blushing ever so darkly at his last statement. Thrax chuckled and handed her his plate.

"Here. You can have the rest." He said.

The girl looked surprise, slowly reaching out and accepting the plate.

"T-Thanks..." She said.

Thrax nodded in response before turning away and walking off back into the bedroom. He took one last look at her, stopping and looking behind him. She was eating the rest of the food with a look of relief and a light blush on her cheeks. He smirked and walked back into the bedroom.


	7. Paranoia

The next morning, Thrax sat on a chair in the living room of his new temporary home, watching Anna explore the house as he thought. He kept a close eye on his 'servant' to make sure she didn't do anything funny, watching as she nervously stood near the corner of the room, a safe distance from the virus. He wasn't sure whether or not she slept last night, all he knew is that she didn't leave the living room unless it was to go to the bathroom. None the less, he had other things on his mind other than her.

So far he's gotten nothing done due to distractions. He knew if he was gonna get the job done, he would need to do it alone and out of sight. Going out in public obviously wasn't working, so he'd just have to do it stealthily instead, remaining unseen. He could already see himself sneaking up behind the clueless immune cell, letting his claw glow a burning orange then giving Ozzy a satisfying slice behind his back.

He smirked then suddenly stood up from his chair, causing the lady in the corner to jump a bit.

"Listen here, baby. Today I'm gonna need you to watch Anna while I handle business." Thrax said.

Thrax then slowly walked towards the frightened girl, causing her to press up against the wall as she trembled, shrinking a bit. Thrax stared down at her then waved his claw in her face warningly.

"And if you even dare harm her, snitch or stab me in the back in any way…I will kill you."

She nodded quickly, trying to cease her chittering. Thrax retracted his claw from her face.

"Good. Now go cook us up some breakfast. I'm sure Anna is hungry, and you wouldn't wanna keep a lil' girl hungry now would you?"

She nodded and quickly slipped out of his reach, speed walking to the kitchen. He watched her speed off then went to check up on Anna, who was exploring her new bedroom, which was the only bedroom in the house.

"This is such a nice house, Thrax! Is misses Melody really okay with us staying here?" Anna said happily.

"I'm sure she doesn't mind in the least." Thrax said with secret sarcasm. "Besides, it's only temporary. We'll be in our home soon enough."

Anna nodded then looked around the room. Thrax watched her and decided to explore the room himself, just to make sure there weren't any weapons or things that could be used against him. It was decent, a nice room with a big enough bed to fit both Melody and Anna on, even though Melody didn't sleep at all last night it seems. Thrax hadn't really slept much either, but did nap here and there that night, making sure to listen out for anything just in case.

He grabbed a nearby telephone and yanked the cord out then disintegrated it to make sure she didn't try to call the cops behind his back. He also surprisingly found a gun under a pillow on the bed but confiscated it to make sure Melody didn't try to use it against him.

He then checked her drawers, finding mostly items that he didn't care much about. Until he found two photos that caught his attention. He picked up the first picture and examined it. It was a photo of Melody as a little girl, holding a red balloon. She had a big smile on her face, showing off her braces, and standing beside her was what looked to be her mother, father and friends.

He then examined the next one, which was a photo of her as a teenager. It seemed to be a high school graduation picture, but the funny thing was, she was the only one in it. He couldn't see her friends or family anywhere, just her wearing a graduation uniform with a smile that he could tell was fake. He could even see other happy graduated teenagers in the background with their friends and family, but hers was just, gone.

"Hm…"

He stared at the pictures for a small moment then snapped out of it and put the photos back, closing the drawer. Anna walked over to the virus.

"Thrax, I gotta go pee pee." She said. "The bathroom is down the hall, kid." He said. "Okay!"

She quickly made her way to the bathroom. Thrax sighed and sat on the bed to think a bit more. He had two goals in mind, 1.) Killing Osmosis Jones and 2.) Taking care of Anna. The first one he knew wouldn't be too much of the problem. The 2nd one however, he was still contemplating about. A part of him knew he wasn't fit for this role and felt that it was just wrong for a virus such as himself to guard over a little cell such as Anna. Yet another part of him felt the need to protect her, attached to her in a way that he's never felt before.

Either way the virus knew just sitting down and thinking about it all day wouldn't do any good. Besides, he's got an immune cell to kill and can't waste any more time. Thrax stood up from his chair, sliding on his trench coat and sunglasses. Soon enough Anna finished using the bathroom and made his way back to Thrax.

"Alright Anna baby, listen up." Thrax said, crouching down to her level. "I got business to take care of today, so I need you to stay here with Melody. If she tries anything to hurt you, use this."

Thrax handed her the gun he found under Melody's pillow. Anna hesitantly took it and examined it in confusion. Okay so he did consider that he may be a bit exaggerating with this, giving Anna a gun to use against Melody in case she tried to attack her. After all, Melody did not seem like the kind of person to harm little girls for any reason. But at the same time, looks can be deceiving, and they hardly even know her. Thrax knew that Melody was not a friend or acquaintance; she was his temporary prisoner, and could not rule out that she may rebel and put Anna in danger.

"I don't understand, Thrax. Why would I need this?" Anna asked, looking up at him. "It's just in case. I'm not 100% positive that Melody won't try to hurt you…" He said with honesty.

"That's silly, Thrax. Why would Miss Melody wanna hurt me? She's so nice! She cooked us dinner and let us stay here in her house. She works at a candy shop, Thrax, a candy shop!" Anna said with a little giggle.

Thrax chuckled. "Like I said, baby, it's just in case. You do know how to use a gun, right?" Thrax asked. "I think so. I've seen it on TV. You just, point and, pull this thing-"

Anna put her finger on the trigger, making Thrax instinctively grab a hold of her two little hands, carefully. "Whoa whoa baby, no need for a demonstration. Remember, only use it for emergencies."

Thrax stood back up to his normal height. "I'll be back as soon as possible, okay? Don't leave this house and stay with Melody. Unless she tries to hurt you."

Anna nodded a bit questionably at first, thinking.

"You won't be gone too long, right?" She asked worriedly. Thrax put one of his hands on top of her head reassuringly. "I won't. I promise." He said.

The young girl hugged him, to his surprise. Thrax sighed softly before returning the hug. "Stay safe, baby…" "I will, Thrax. I will."

And with that, the virus headed out to finally seek out his revenge. It wasn't long before the virus reached his destination, standing not too far from the police station. He watched every person enter and exit the police station, some standing outside of it. He knew the cold pill and rebel cop had to be there somewhere, but wanted to take them out nice and quietly without people trying to interfere. Normally he wouldn't care but he had a little girl to get back to and would rather get this over with quickly, even though he still wanted Ozzy's death to be slow and painful.

Thrax waited and waited in the shadows until finally, he spotted an all too familiar white blood cell and cold pill, both chatting once again as they headed out of the police station. He could tell from afar that they weren't in a very happy-go-lucky mood as he'd come to expect, talking about something that seemed rather serious. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying but he could faintly hear the tone in their voices.

He mentally shrugged off the thought, not caring all that much and secretly followed them as they got into a car and drove off. It wasn't too hard for the virus to keep up with the vehicle, following it all the way until they had reached their destination. The car had parked in front of an apartment complex before both Osmosis and Drix got out of it, heading into the building. Thrax watched carefully at which room they entered.

'Room 379…' Thrax took note of mentally.

Just as he was about make his way to the apartment room, he heard the loud booming of gunshots from afar. He immediately snapped his head towards the direction of the gunshot in surprise. "What the…" He muttered. Where did that come from? And why? He thought for a second and immediately became paranoid. Would've it was Anna? Would've Melody actually did do something to her that caused her to use her gun? Or would've someone broke into the house and tried to hurt them both?

Before Thrax could finish thinking, a few more gunshots were heard. Giving into his paranoia he ran as quickly as he could towards the direction of the gunshots he heard.

His heart began to race faster and faster the closer he got. It could've been anyone who shot that gun, but for some reason the virus had to know for sure whether or not it was Anna. He needed to know that Anna was safe, that whomever is responsible for those shots wasn't Anna or anyone else near Anna. He needed to know that Anna wasn't calling out to him for help and that she wasn't in danger. He needed to.

Thrax pushed and shoved aside a few civilians and hopped over certain obstacles that got in his way, until about eight quick minutes later, he arrived at the source of the gunshots. Thrax quickly looked around, only to discover that the gunshots were caused by two rather angry germs who were currently being handcuffed by several cops.

"This ain't over! I'mma kill you!" One of the germs yelled at the other. "Ha! In yo' dreams you lyin' scumbag!" The other yelled. "Who you callin' a scumbag-" "Will you two shut up!?" An immune cop said, putting an end to their bickering. Both of them growled and grumbled at each other as they were forced into the back of separate police cars.

Sweet, sweet relief washed over the virus. Thrax sighed and ran his claws through his dreads, pressing up against a nearby building. He laughed and shook his head at his own overreaction.

"Phew, get it together big daddy." Thrax told himself. He fixed himself up then headed back towards the apartment complex in which he assumed was Ozzy's home. But once he got there, he saw that the car Ozzy and Drix arrived in was gone. He was confused then realized that they were gone again.

Thrax sighed at this thought. Damn it. He could just break into the apartment and wait for them to return…wait, was the room number again?

"Ahh, shit!" Thrax slammed his fist against a wall in frustration, growling. How could he let this happen so easily? If he hadn't became distracted, Ozzy would've been dead by now. This is the second time he let distractions get in the way of his ultimate goal. He sighed and rubbed his eye template.

He looked up at the sky and realized that it was already growing dark and quick. 'Fuck it. I'll just have to come back tomorrow.' He thought, knowing a certain little girl was waiting for him at 'home'. He headed back towards his temporary place and opened the door using a spare key. 'This day cannot get any worse.' He thought.

When he opened the door, he expected to see two girls waiting for him, but saw no one. He raised a brow, calling out. "Anna? Melody?" He looked around the house but couldn't find them. He soon came to the horrifying realization.

They were gone.


	8. One Sweet Melody

Thrax ran all around the neighborhood and town, looking for any sign of Anna and Melody. Melody's car had been missing from the house letting Thrax know that Melody must've drove off with Anna somewhere. But where? Would've she gives Anna away somewhere? Or is headed to the police station to tattle to the cops? These thoughts only made Thrax more anxious and angry. As the 'sun' was almost done setting, he headed back into the direction of the house, hoping, praying that somehow Anna was back in there playing dress up, or watching TV, or taking a bath.

That's when he saw it. A familiar gray sedan that just drove past him, slowing to a stop outside of Melody's house. He happened to catch a glimpse of the driver which was no other than Melody. He wasn't sure if Anna was in there as well, not having much of a chance to see. Thrax watched from a nice distance to see if his previous thoughts were true; to see if Melody had given Anna away to someone else while he was gone. But this thought was soon denied once he saw a smaller figure open the passenger side door, getting out.

A wave of relief washed over him, but it was quickly replaced with anger. The virus began running towards the vehicle, both of the girls having yet to notice them. It was only when Thrax was about fifty feet away when Anna noticed him. She gasped then grinned, pointing over to him. "Thraaax!" She called out happily. Melody turned around to see where she was pointing then gasped when she noticed how angrily he was staring at her and how quickly he was running her direction.

Frightened, Melody screamed and attempted to run the opposite direction but did not get very far. Thrax grabbed her arm, sending them both toppling over onto the concrete sidewalk. Melody groaned, lying down with her back against the sidewalk. She felt a heavy weight on top of her and opened her eyes, only to see an angry Thrax pointing his glowing killer claw right in the center of her face, in between her eyes. Fear overwhelmed her immediately and she began to shake, trying to back her head away from his claw.

"Where were you? I told you to stay put. Did you tell to tha' cops? Did ya' try to give her away?" He asked, glaring down on her. "I-I-I-I-" Words were caught and scrambled within Melody's throat as she tried to speak. Thrax began losing his patience and roughly slammed on of her wrists against the ground, receiving a yelp in response. "Answer me!" He barked. The girl winced and whimpered, tearing up. She tried so hard to speak but every time she tried, nothing came out. She was choking up.

"Thrax! Stop!" Anna said, suddenly interfering. She ran to Thrax's side and began trying to pry his hand away from Melody's face, but it wouldn't budge. "Anna, go inside, now." Thrax said in a frightening, calm but dark tone. His eyes never left Melody's face, the anger still very clearly plastered onto his face. But Anna didn't give up. "Thrax, she didn't try to give me away, we just went to get groceries! Honest!" Anna explained. "…" Thrax looked over at Anna's pleading face. She had her small arms wrapped around Thrax's left arm, trying to make sure his claw didn't come in contact with Melody's face. "Please, Thrax, don't hurt her…" Anna said, her voice sounding hopeful yet worried.

Thrax was silent for a moment then looked back at the female beneath him. "Is this true? Did you only go out for groceries?" The woman nodded frantically, her whimpers and trembling refusing to cease. Fat tears kept forming in her eyes, threatening to come out. She could never control her emotions around the virus and seemed to have an extremely hard time handling pressure. Anna ran over to the car, opening up the trunk carefully for further proof that they had bought groceries. Thrax looked over and saw the trunk full of white bags with various foods inside of them.

Thrax sighed, calming down and retracting his hand. "Alright, Anna baby, go inside real quick. We'll be in there in a sec'." He said. "Wait, y-you're not gonna…" Thrax already knew what the little girl was thinking before she could finish her sentence. "I'm not gonna hurt her, baby. Just go inside." He responded. Anna nodded and walked inside the house.

Suddenly, the girl beneath him began to sob, catching his attention once again. She used one arm to cover her leaking eyes since Thrax still had the other one practically pinned to the ground. She couldn't speak correctly but the virus could tell the girl kept trying to apologize, over and over, quietly. Thrax felt a heavy weight of guilt inside his chest, watching the girl in this state. It was the first time they had seen him this angry and it was scary as hell. But luckily, the virus had calmed down, enough to climb off Melody.

Melody was still sobbing and began to curl up once the virus was off of her, but before she could fully curl up into a sad little ball, she felt a pair of strong arms lift her up off the ground. She gasped in surprise and stopped sobbing, but what was even more surprising is what he did afterwards. He wrapped his arms around her smaller body, pulling her into a hug. One of his hands were on her back while the other was resting on the back of her head. He couldn't see her expression, but he assumed it was a shocked one, which it was. And she couldn't see his face, but his expression was a mixture of thoughtfulness, guilt and sympathy.

"I'm sorry, Melody…" He whispered. "I didn't mean to hurt or scare you. I just…needed to make sure my baby girl was okay. I told you not to leave the house, so when I found out you were gone, I thought it was because you ratted me and Anna out, or hurt her." The girl sniffled, her voice cracking up again once she spoke. "I-I'm sorry, I forgot, I-" Before she could finish, the virus calmly shushed her. "Shhhh… I know, baby, I know…" He said, rubbing her back. The kind, comforting gestures that the virus was giving her only caused her to start crying again, this time with her face buried inside his chest and her hands clenched onto his shirt. He didn't mind the tears soaking into his shirt or the muffled sobs.

He held her close, not letting go for a second as he comforted her apologetically. Her crying slowly began to settle down, and soon she found herself emotionally exhausted. Her trembling slowed to a stop and she began to feel calm in his arms. It was a lot more warm and welcoming in his arms than it was when he had him pinned to the ground. Thrax could tell she was becoming tired so once she was calmer, he swooped her off her feet and carried her inside the house. She blushed lightly, holding on tiredly. It was the first time she wasn't afraid, being around the virus. Although what happened earlier did have her shook, the comfort and sympathy he offered afterwards felt so genuine that she felt as if it made up for it. Not to mention, now that she understood the reason why he did it, he didn't entirely blame him.

Once in the house, Thrax laid Melody down in her bed and tucked her in. Anna saw him walk in with her and followed him into the room. "Is Miss Melody going to be okay?" Anna asked. Thrax nodded, looking over his shoulder at the little girl. "She'll be alright. Just needs some rest." He answered. "Now, help me get these groceries out of tha' car." Anna smiled and nodded. "Okay!"

* * *

It was past midnight when Melody had woken up from her slumber. The first thing she noticed was Anna was fast asleep on the other side of the bed, facing her direction. She looked around the dark room and realized that Thrax was nowhere in sight. She sighed, memories of earlier coming back to her rather quickly. It was a crazy situation she had gotten herself into and if Anna hadn't convinced Thrax that she took them shopping, she could imagine how dead she'd probably be right now.

She also thought about what Thrax assumed her intention was earlier. How could she ever hurt her a little girl like Anna? WHY would she? She may not have been the toughest shecell around but she was true to her word; she wouldn't rat them out, no matter how crazy this situation seemed or how logical it would be. She knew Anna trusted her, but if she were to ever avoid a situation like that again, she'd need Thrax to trust her as well. But what could she do to earn his trust?

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door slowly creaked open and Thrax peeked in. Melody blushed lightly and sat up, looking over at each other. Now that they both were calm and back down to a normal, rational state, neither of them knew was sort of reaction to expect from each other. Thrax noticed that she wasn't trembling which was a relief. Honestly, he didn't want her to stress much more than she already has, it's just not healthy.

"H-Hi." Melody said, breaking the silence. Thrax looked somewhat surprise at the unexpected greeting but responded. "Hey. You sleep well?" He asked. She nodded in response. "Mhm." She rubbed her arm bashfully, looking down at her lap a bit. "What time is it?" She asked. "Around midnight." Thrax answered, leaning against the doorway. Melody wasn't sure whether she'd be able to fall back asleep or if she was just gonna stay up for the rest of the night. She shrugged the thought off for now then looked back up at the virus standing in her doorway with his arms crossed. "Did you sleep?" She asked.

Thrax took note of how more willingly she was about talking to him. Before she wanted to avoid him entirely, avoid looking at him, avoid talking to him. But it seemed now as if she was trying to start a conversation with him. Interesting… Exactly what kind of effect did the incident earlier have on Melody? The virus, admittedly, was curious to know. "Nah, I've been awake. Had ta' make sure my girls were safe while they slept." He smirked and winked.

A red blush tinted her cheeks at this response. She never expected him to refer to her as one of 'his girls.' What did this mean? She could just be over thinking this; after all, the amount of times he's called her 'baby' seems to imply that it's just his natural way of speaking. She honestly didn't mind, either.

Suddenly, her stomach growled, which only worsened her blush. He chuckled softly. "I figured you'd be hungry. I made a pot of chicken noodle soup. Anna already ate before she fell asleep." He left the room for a moment and returned with a bowl of chicken noodle soup. "Careful, it's hot." He said, holding it out to her. She nodded and carefully took it in her hands. "Thank you…" She looked at him and smiled softly. Thrax couldn't help but stare for a moment. This was the first time he's seen her actually smile at him. Sure, she smiled politely in the candy shop, but that's only because he was a customer and she didn't fully know who he was. But now she did know, and seeing her smile at him like this, for some strange reason, made him feel even warmer inside if that was even possible.

"Thrax? Are you okay?" She called out, suddenly feeling worried as he stared at her. Thrax snapped back to reality and shook his head, clearing his throat. "Yeah, I'm fine, baby. I was just…thinkin' is all." He said. "Oh, okay…" The virus turned and began to head out the room. "Where are you going?" Melody asked. Thrax stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. "Figured I'd give you some space and let you eat." He answered. The girl looked down at her lap. "Oh." She said simply. Thrax wasn't the best at reading faces but he could tell that she looked somewhat disappointed as he was heading out.

"I mean…unless you want me to stay." He said it as a statement but was expecting an answer. Melody rubbed her arm once again bashfully and looked at the wall to her right. "W-Well, I um…was sorta hoping we could talk. I don't want to sit in the dark alone, and…" She looked up at him. "I want to get to know you."

Now Thrax was definitely surprised. Why would she want that? He's practically keeping her prisoner and forced his way into her home, and yet she wanted to socialize with him as if they were friends. Then again, it would be nice to know more about this girl. Perhaps if he knew more about her he could learn to trust her more, enough to not constantly worry about Anna's life being in danger while she watched her. That is, if she seemed trustworthy. Thrax thought for a second then walked towards her. "Alright then." He sat on the couch chair beside the bed, the one he moved from the living room to the bedroom when they got there. "Let's talk." He said.

* * *

They talked for hours but it only felt like mere minutes. I started with small talk, thoughts about certain things, then led up to past stories, unbelievable situations they had been in and embarrassing memories. Of course they didn't share everything considering the fact that they just met a few days ago and Thrax was still technically holding her captive, but it was pleasant to share a few things with one another. Whenever Melody would giggle at a funny joke or story, or act somewhat playful herself, Thrax couldn't help but crack smile. Melody was starting to act more like herself and be more open with him. And although the virus couldn't understand why…he liked that.

"I know you're probably tired of hearing me apologize, but about earlier, I really am sorry. I should've waited until you came back before going out with Anna…" She said. "Baby, I already told you I forgive you. You don't have'ta keep feelin' bad about it." He said. "I know, it's just…" She rubbed her wrist, causing the virus to look at it. He could see a bruise forming there and instantly felt guilty once more. "Damn, baby, did I really do that?" He sighed. "I should be the one apologizing. Lemme see." He said, getting closer. "No, it's fine, it's just a…" Before she could finish, Thrax took a hold of her wrist gently and examined the bruise.

She blushed at first, watching him examine it thoughtfully. "Don't worry, it'll go away eventually." She said. Thrax looked up at her. "It's my fault it's there to begin with. I gotta make it up to you. How's about you punch me one good time, fair enough?" He said. She giggled at this. "I'm not gonna punch you, Thrax. Besides, you already made it up to me." She said, smiling. He raised a brow. "When?" He asked. "Just sitting down here and spending time to get to know me, and…letting me know a bit about you." She smiled brightly.

Damn that smile. Why does it keep making him feel so funny inside? Before Thrax could respond, she spoke again. "You know, I think you're a lot nicer than you make yourself seem." She said. Thrax frowned at this. "How dare you?" He said. Melody laughed then smiled. "Goodnight, Thrax." Suddenly, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. The virus' eyes widened, freezing in place. Melody casually climbed into bed and laid down, ready to fall back asleep. Thrax watched silently, still processing what just happened then released a soft sigh.

"Goodnight, Melody."


End file.
